London Press Conference Excerpts - July 30

7/30/2012

LONDON – Sanya Richards-Ross, Jesse Williams and Ashton Eaton met with members of the press during the first official track & field press conference for Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games on Monday morning.

Below are excerpts from each of the participants:

Sanya Richards-Ross
"I am feeling really good. They say the third time is the charm, so I’m hoping that holds true for me. I'm feeling very good. My training is exactly where I want it to be, so I’m hoping to have my best race of the season here at the Olympics."

Regarding her double in the 200m/400m:
"I'm really looking forward to it. Of course my priority is the 400, and it comes first so it is easy to keep my focus on that. I want to go out and execute really well in the 400 and hopefully win the gold medal. Then I’ll give it all I have in the 200. I think it is going to be a phenomenal field. I’m excited I made the team; that was a challenge in itself. I hope I can grab a medal in the 200m as well, that would be the icing on the cake; for me the 400 is the cake."

Jesse Williams
"I am a different person now [compared to 2008] as an athlete mentally and physically. I am just really strong right now. I had a great year last year, and I feel like the momentum for me has been building up. I had a little scare at the U.S. Trials, but I got through it. I’m back on track, I’m 100 percent health and I’m strong mentally and physically. I’m ready to take these games on for sure."

Ashton Eaton
"I'm feeling really good of course. I'm confident in my abilities because there were really good performances [at the U.S. Trails] but then there were performances that weren’t so good, but that is the decathlon. . This being my first Olympic Games, and having just gotten in recently, I think it’s overwhelming at first seeing all of the Olympic athletes from all the different countries. I'm taking it all in and I'm ready for track to start."

I think because of what I did in Eugene, it helped me mentally, my chances are good here. I’m definitely not going to try for a [personal best], I think it is unrealistic to think I’m going to get another world record, especially at the Olympic games, there are a lot of things that happen mentally and physically that I don’t even know about yet because I’ve never been. That’s just what people tell me.